Steam-generating apparatus.



3 SHEETS-SHEET 1,

PATENTED JUNE 30, 1908.

E. THOMSON.

STEAM GENERATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9 1898 www v/ITVESEBS- w PATETDJUNB so, 1608.

E. THoMsoN.

STEAM GENBRATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9.1898.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 892,196. PATENTED JUNE 30, 1908. E. THOMSON.

STEAM GENBRATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9.1898.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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Witnesses: Inventor? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELIHU THOMSON, OF SWAMPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF-NEW YORK.

Specicalsion4 of Letters Patent.

Patented June 30, 1908.'

Application mea June 9, i898. serial No. esao'oo.

y To all whom 'it 'ma/y concern.'

Beit known that I, ELI-HU THOMSON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Swampscott, county of Essex, and CommonwealthI of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Steam-Generating Apparatus for Power and other Purposes, of which the following is a' specification, r

One object of my invention is to produce a safe, convenient, efficient and compact apparatus whereby liquid such as water may be vaporized at considerable (pressure and applied for hmotive power, an to perform such action bymeans of liquid fuel such as kerosene oil burned under strictly economical conditions, and to conserve the heat of such combustion so perfectly as to obtain the highest economy.

A further object of my invention is to'provide meanswherebya steam-making apparatus ma be producedsuitable fo'r use in automobi e carriages .and for such like urposes, where space and vweight shoul be saved and where high efficiency is required in order to save the necessity for carrying heavy loads of water and fue By my invention fuel may be consumed, even though it be kerosene oil, without producing any objectionable odors. My structure is not liable to ex llosion, since there is at no time a heavy c age or pressure of water under hi h temperature, or combustible with air. n m invention I secure perfect combustion, an I also obtain ability to reduce or increase the amount of combustible consumed, and therefore the amount of water vapor or steam produced at will, while retaining the relative proportions of air, combustible' and water for vaporization. In the arran ement of my invention there is very little oss of heat from the walls of the apparatus, and no danger from fire, since there is no exposed flame or appearance of lire, as the combustion goes on 1n what is practically a closed chamber.

The means whereb I carry my invention into effect will be un erstood by reference to the accom anying drawings and description which fol ows, while the novelV features thereof will be pointed out in the claims.

Fi reel is a general scheme of the elements Whic together make up the system of my invention; Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are detail views of the vaporizer structure; Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 show a form of air pumping or blowing apparatus suitable for use in connection with my invention; Fig. 9 indicates set pumps for pumpin the fuel and water used in the apparatus, ig. 10 .indicates lmeans for varying the action of the air, fuel and Water umping devices; andI Fig. 11 shows a means or varying the effective strokes of the pistons. y

In Fig. 1, A represents suitable pumping apparatus delivering air through a ipeA1 to a jacket or shell J, surrounding and)nearl jacketing the inner shell lined with lire-bric or heat-resistin material. The air from the jacketV J, heate by esca e heat from the interior, is carried to the re-head H,-which is made with passages as shown, whereb the air is delivered and commingled wit oil vapor produced by feeding oil to the pi e O1 pumped simultaneously wi-th the air y' a pump O from a tank marked Oil, The delivery of the air and oil is, through a s ecially formed lug inserted in the head Eli,

which forms t e subject matter of a separate patent. The adjustment ofthe capacity of the pump O to the capacity of the air-pumping apparatus A is made such as to secure a proper chemical atmosphere for complete combustion in the fire space F surrounded b fire-brick. Assuming the fire started in the volume there developed passes through 'a mass of-fire-resistingmaterial in the interstices provided in such material, such as ya mass of broken fire-brick B, Fig. 1, sustained by perforated plates of refractor material. The heat of combustion from e in F is stored in B until the mass thereof becomes verI highly heated, which results in the abi ity to extinguish or stop the action of the apparatus by stoppinthe feedin of oil and air while the heat in is retaine at such a high temperature for a long time that the apparatus can be again started by simply turning onthe oil and air, or beginning the umping thereof. The hot gases passing rom B finally pass through the vaporizer proper, which is marked V, and after passing the vaporizer are discharged through a suitable opening marked E. The vaporizer is surrounded y a'water jacket J 3 whereb any heat esca ing through the walls of the mclosure whic contains the vaporizer V maybe utilized for heating the feed water. The feed water enters from a tank marked Water, passes into the jacket J 2 and is taken thereom by a pump W and delivered b a pipe W1 to the vaporizer. The pump l acts to feed the water from the tank and is operated along with the oil and air pumps A and O. The capacities of the three umps are so adjusted that the amount of combustible pumped in O meets the proper amount of air pumped by A to produce perfect combustion m the lfire space F, and the amount of water pumped by W is such that it will be vaporized and superheated to the desired degree in the vaporizer V before delivery to the pipe S for operating the engine or' other purposes. The engine may be of any suitable type for operation with the vapor or steam, and is marked M.

The vaporizer may bethus described. It

.consists of a mass of metal and a series of slabs of metal such as cast iron or castrco per alloy, shown horizontally in section in Flg. 2, and in vertical section 1n two planes at the lower part of the vaporizer V, (Fig. 1), where the pipe W1 enters. Y boiler section comprising a flat cast slab having openings therein stopped by proper plugs p, etc. The openings form kpassages 1n m tiple or parallel relation leading across the slab and connectthe passage I with an outlet passage. These passages are closed by the plugs p, p, and preferably contain rods .or tubes of metal having spiral grooves cut in their exterior, so as to form helical passages from one end to the other ofthe slab, through which water or vapor may be passed- Extending transversely to the assages containing t e spirally grooved g are many openings such as Q, which ass completely through the plate or slab om side to side, as is more clearly seen in the section next to the lower slab of the vaporizer V (Fig. 1), and permit the hot gases from the fire space F, throu h the material B, to find free movement an deliver their heat to the successive slabs in the vaporizer. The slabs are properly spaced apart so as not to permit any choking of the openings, and the openings Q inone slab are made to break joint with those in the next succeeding one, as by reversing or changing the position of the slabs relativelyv so as to cause the gases to pass through a broken or zig-zag course and thereby utilize all the heating surface available for picking up heat from the gases and delivering it to the metal of the slabs. Otherconstructions might be usedv for this pur ose, the intention ofwhich is to enlarge an extend the metal surfaces exposed to the friction of the moving gases. The series of slabs, .of which sevenare shown superposed in Fi 1, and spaced apart, are jointed by suita le connectors as moreclearly seen in Fig. 4, which consist of short bent couplings lthrough wgich the grooved bars varied in accordance with the Fig. 2 represents ay seams secured together andconnecting the inlet passage or opening from one slab to the outet of the next preceding.

Fig. l3 shows the preferred arrangement of the plugs which occupy the o eni s w have een inserted. These' plugs are made with an inner face of hard stone or other substance non-conducting for heat, and indestructible by hot vapor, such as hard-baked clay or the like. The object of this is to keep the-plug p as nearly the same tem erature as the slab as possibleso as to avoi its being cooled at anytime and thereby leaking by contraction. As shown in 1, an engine M driven by the vapor apparatus and delivery pipe S-S, is `coupled by belting shown in dotted lines and a speed-varying mechanism T, governed by a handle G, whereby the activity of th'e fire inthe space or chamber F and the amount of combustible and water pum ed may be oad or the amount of vapor which is to be produced or may be discharged, as indicated by an exhaust pipe E2 entering into the main exhaust opening E forthe furnace gases. The admission ofsteam to the engine is controlled by the valve S1 and the lever S2.

To start the apparatus into operation, the plug P is taken out and heated'to a temperature suihcient to easily vaporize,l oil coming -in contact therewith, and is inserted in place after a torch has been applied to iirethe oil at the opening; the air pump or oil pump A or O having been started and the water pump rendered inactive by shutting off its suction pipe by suitable valve, as at U, the heated air passing `through the hot plug burns the oil in F, continuing the combustion until the art B is raised to a high temperature and tiie vaporizer V is at the boiling point or is sufficiently hot to make' steam.l The pumping up to this time can be done by extraneous power applied to the oil and air pump, and a separate water pump may be provided to work for the starting only. As soon however as the vaporizer V is hot, the engine M may be started by throwing on the Water umpfor-a moment and 'by opening vthe va ve U, after which the combustion of vapor for the generator continues and the engine M may now be made to furnish the pumpingrpower.

ig. 5 is a section of a form of air pump which might be replaced by any blast apparatus giving axdenite volume of air at each stroke or during a definite traverse of the actuating shaft. Fig. 6 is a top view of the exterior of said pump; Fig. 7 is a section through the center, and Fig. 8 shows an interior view with the piston removed. It is hardly necessary to describe the details of this pump; suffice it to say that the two external heads of the cylindrical space inl are provided with openings ar is affixed into the centero the case. `The pumping caplacity, is made Just such revolution ofl a shaft X, Fig. 6, thnowsthe pistons P-P backward and forward and causes them to displace the. air toward the exit or` air pipe Al. The arrangementof the crank shaft isseenin '7,' where the crank is shown in section, w e the valves, which are merely liaps o flexible leather, are shown in Fig. 8 coverin four openings. e Thel actions o the air-blowingapparatus are made coincidently with the motions of pump 0, Fig. 9, which represents an-oil pump drivenv by an eccentric on the same shat 1f desired. The set of such pump, i. e., its as will d for eac stroke the oilf re uisite to be burned bythe air su pliedby e air-pump or blast cylinder, an the water pump W 1s in any like manner adjusted as to its-pumping `capacit to pump only that amount of Y water whic the vaporizer can easily vapo rize and slightly superheat. To vary the amounts of these iiuids pumped it suiii'ces to arrange speed-changing mechanism of any known ty e, asin Fig. 10, where abelt over two' cone pulleysbeing driven by the other; and the driven pulley being geared or connected to the shaft driving the pumps and air-blast afpparatus. It need scarcely be stated that sup ort W.

the speed of the pumping apparatus be kpt unchanged, i. e., if the speed-varyin mechanism, Fig. 10, be dispensed 'with and the pumps themselves be made simulta neously variable in capacity, as by change of effective piston strokes or otherwise, the same resu t may be accomplished in increasing or` decreasing the activity of the whole ap aratus. Such an arrangement is shown in ig. 11. W isthe water'pump, and O the oil pump, vthe pistons ot which are driven from the same source of power. The capacitfy of' the water pump is greater than that o the oil pump in orderthat fuel and water may be supplied to the fire chamber and generator in the proper amounts. Pivotally connected to the piston is a wblock orguide W'1 which, engages thelink W2. The upper end of the link 1s pivotally Aunited to anad'- justable sliding iece W carried by the fixed e-s1iding iece is rovid'ed wit a screw-threaded spin le, and y rotating the hand wheel W5 the link can be adjusted' so that its center of movement is raised or lowered to vary the extent ofmovement ofthe pump istons. The lower end of the link is pivotal y attached to an arm Ml George Iguides above and below,

pulleys is shown, one of the coned` thatlisactuated by an eccentric on the shaft of the engine.

It isold in the art to vary the stroke of'a l pum piston b means ofan adjustable link andl lock, suc as described in connection withzFig. 11, hence no claim is made to that speciiic feature.

In order-to vary the supply of' air in accordance-with the demand for energy on the generator, andi simultaneouslyT with thevariations in fuel and water supplies, an air pump- A is-provided of suitable construction. have chosen to illustrate a well-known type of*` pum as exemplified bythe patent to estinghouse, Jr., No, 550,466, dated Nov. 26th, 1895, and hence do not claim its specificI construction.

,A3 represents a. ump casing having a dividing central welll A2, the upper end of which acts as a guide for-the vertically adjustable cylinderPs. Air is admitted to the casingon. one side ofthe partition and is discharged on the other. The cylinder has and is adapted to be moved from a concentric to a. non-concentric osition by the. adjustable sliding piece W3.

nthe cyhnderare admission and discharge portsP and P7 Mounted within the cylinder is a revolving head Pf* in which the istons 1:'s are supported in such manner t at each can move longitudinally to compensate for changes in position ofthe c linder. The head is mounted on and is riven by the same shaft that drives the eccentric M2 that actua-tes the fuel and water pumps. As shown the air pump as well as the fuel and water pumps are in the position to give maximum` delivery. As the sliding piece W3 is depressed by the hand wheel ithe amplitude of the pump strokes becomes less and less, and consequently the sup lies of fuel water and air*y are simultaneous y decreased. Moving the sliding piece .upward from a given position oi-'minimum pump output increases the deliveries of the umps. r

By stoppingt e action of the pumps the apparatus is thrownout of action, but the material in B remains hot enough to start even after a rest of man minutes in moderate sized structures, andy after an hours rest in larger sized structures, as there is no cooling' draft or circulation, and the fire-resisting lining is made heavy enough to only slowly convey the heat away.

One of the features of my invention is that the oil, the water and the air are ositively and definitel measured, and their ow is independent o the friction of the air passages, oilpassages or water. assages', so that n o matter what the spe ofthe apparatus is they will bear a practically invariable. relation to each other, or the. feed of eachl willbe positively-produced. In this way the greater the call on the a paratus, the greater the amount of air, oi and water which will be pumped, and vice versa. There is no danger either of overheating the steam vaporizer part of the apparatus, inasmuch as when water ceases to e pumped in proper amount to keep the Working temperature, the fire is accordingly checked simultaneously during actual operation.

I have illustrated and described in this application certain new and useful'improvements in va orizers and burners which are not claimed erein, as theyform the subject mattei' of my Patent, No. 735,683, dated Aug. 4th, i9o3.

The means employed to regulate the system by changing the s eed of the pumps is not specifically claime herein, as it forms the subject matter of a divisional application filed the 14th day of October, 1902, S. N. 127,227.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is,

1. In a steameneratinfr system, the combination of a boi er capable of superheating steam, a burner, umps for feeding water to the boiler and uel to the burner, which pumps differ as to their capacities, istons for the pumps which are mechanical y connected, means for operating the pumps in a manner to preserve the relation between the capacities, and means which is independent of the operating means for simultaneously varying the capacities of the pumps while preserving-their definite relation.

2. In combination with a steam-generating apparatus, two feed pumps, one for feeding water to the vaporizer and the other for feeding oil to the burner or lire space, ameans for simultaneously varying the effective strokes of the pumps to compensate for changes in load on the generator, and mech anism for unitin `the pumps in such manner that a definite re ation between the feeding of the one and the feeding of the other is constantly maintained during all variations ofcapacity.

3. An apparatus of the kind described, comprising pumps for positively supplying air and liquid fuel to a fire chamber in measured proportions to insurecomplete combustion, an engine for driving the pumps, means acting on the driving connection between the pumps and the engine for simultaneously.

varying theircapacities while preserving at all times the proportions for completecombustion; means for heating the air and Aoil andmiXing them before they enter the fire chamber, and a steamgeiierator or vaporizer receiving heat from the fire ases, and meansv for supplying water or ot er liquid under pressure in amount dependent upon the fuel used and air supplied at-any time, substantially as described. v

4. The combination of a steam *enerator Whereinjhe heating power is supp 'ed by a liquid fuel burner, a pump and connectionsv for supplying Water tothe generator a pump and connections for supplying fuel to the burner, a pump and connections for supplying air to the burner, means for mechanically connecting the pump pistons whereby a definite feeding relationV is maintained, and means for simultaneously varying the effective discharge of the pumps in order to vary the quantity of water su plied to the generator and the quantities of fuel and air supplied to the burner.

5. The combination with a steam enerator wherein the heating power is su plied by a liquid fuel burner, of a u'mp an connections for sqpplying liquid uel to the burner, a pump an connections for supplying water to the generator, Vmeans for driving the pumps, .means for simultaneously increasin or decreasing the eective piston strokes o the pumps to cause corresponding variations in the supply of fueland water furnished to the generator, and a means causing air to enter the fire space.

6. The combination with a steam enera- 1 tions for supplying liquid fuel to the burner, Ya pump an( connectlons for supplying water to the generator, means for driving the pumps, and a device acting on the connection between the means 'and the umps for simultaneously and proportionate y varying the feeding capbacities of the pumps in a manner to cause corresponding variations in the supply of fuel to the burner and water to the generator. 7. ln combination, y a generator of the flasher type, a lire chamber, water, fuel and air pumps for su plying water to the generator and fuel an air to the fire chamber in 4predetermined amounts, means for driving thepum s, anda device in the driving connectlon etweenithe means and the umps for simultaneously changing the eectlve capacities of said pumps to vary the output of the generator.

8. ln a vapor generating system, the combination of ava orizer arranged to receive liquid and gradua ly increase its temperature to the point of vaporization and then superheat it, a pump and connection for supplying the necessary liquid to furnish the superheated vapor, a burner, a fuel ump, an air pump, connections from the uel and air pum s which deliver their iiuids unmixed att e`v burner, and a means for simultaneously changingthe effective deliveries of all of the umps to compensate for a given change in demand for superheated vapor.

9. ln a system of regulation, the combination of an engine, a flash boiler arran ed to supply steam thereto, a burner for the oiler,

water and fuelpulmps arranged to supply water to the boiler and fuel to the burner, driv l l In witness whereof I have hereunto set my ing mechanism between the en e and the hand this 6th day of June, 1898. pumps, means for simultaneous y and corre- ELIHU THOMSON spondingly vaigyinig the feeding ca acities of 5 t epumps, en e ever for manua actuat- Witnesses:

ing said means independently of t e boiler DUGALD MCKILLOP,

pressure and the speed of the engine. HENRY O. WESTENDARP. 

